In Competition for Fipresci Award and Official Selection in Indie Power Section, Hong Kong International Film Festival 2009 (World Premiere)

Official Selection in Singapore Panorama, Singapore International Film Festival 2009

Official Selection in Panorama Section, Buenos Aires International Festival of Independent Films 2010

“Lei Yuan Bin’s film debut is one of the most promising of Singaporean cinema, which is quietly positioning itself as one of the more vital exponents of the continuing Asian renewal.” – BAFICI 2010 Programme Notes

“An impishly enjoyable debut that is notable for being so relaxed; and this in itself is refreshing.” – Mathias Ortmann (Read the full review)

Dreaming of a trip to Taiwan but stuck in a city they can’t seem to leave from, three young people get together to create a friendship net that would save them from their inanimate loneliness. An unsterilized black & white image, with a documentary-like gray realism, provides the setting for a series of conversations and situations that have as much everyday nihilism as religious theories bordering the ridicule. With an overwhelming contemporary spirit, and a lucid pop art cinephilia, Tsai Ming-liang and Richard Linklater come together as explicit and essential references for White Days’ main characters, but also for its director, who combines the theme of young lethargic people engaging in sharp dialog –Linkater’s slackers– with the challenging aesthetics that implies taking a wide shot and creating a universe populated by Tsai’s vanishing point. (from BAFICI programme notes)

WHITE DAYS involves three characters who are dealing with their own personal crises. The film begins with a young man, whose trip out of the country is abruptly canceled when the friend whom he was supposed to go with dies. He reconnects with his friends back home, including a religious fanatic who has just returned from a pilgrimage to Israel, and a translator who has always wanted to move out of Singapore. Through a series of mordantly funny conversations, these young people gradually realize that what faces them is not the futility of life, but rather the transience and impermanence of it.

Director’s Statement

WHITE DAYS is a slice of the lives of three young Singaporeans. The story and its characters are inspired by the dreams, hopes and fears of the actors themselves. I hope the film has captured a slice of time in their lives. Through making this film, I’ve discovered that they were all searching for something missing in their lives. Either by going for a religious pilgrimage, watching and making films, or yearning to live somewhere faraway from home. Each of their personal stories seems different on the surface, but deep down they are the same… This film is a celebration of their continuous search for the meaning and purpose in life.

Technical Specifications

Country of production: Singapore

Running length: 92 minutes / COLOR

Year of production: 2009

Language: English, Mandarin, Hokkien

Subtitles: English

Original Format: HDV

Screening Format: HDCAM

Aspect Ratio: 1:1.85

Sound: Stereo

Crew

Director: Lei Yuan Bin

Writers: Lei Yuan Bin, Chris Yeo

Producer/Cinematographer: Looi Wan Ping

Editor: Liao Jiekai, Looi Wan Ping

Sound Design: Takuya Katsu

Music: Gesang Martohartono/Arief Yudhanto

Cast

Chris Yeo

Daniel Hui

Vel Ng

Yeo Kwan Hua

Director’s Biography

Born in Singapore, this is LEI YUAN BIN’s debut feature film after working five years as a cinematographer. His cinematography work includes HAZE which competed for the Best Short Film at the Berlin International Film Festival 2008. He graduated from the National University of Singapore, majoring in Sociology, before attending film school. He was mentored by film maestro Hou Hsiao Hsien at the Asian Film Academy (Pusan International Film Festival 2008) and spent a month in Taipei working as the art assistant intern in Tsai Ming Liang’s new feature film, VISAGES (FACE).

[…] for 13 Little Pictures. We’ve premiered 3 feature films (Flooding In The Time Of Drought, White Days and In The House Of Straw) in festivals in Hong Kong, Singapore, Seoul, Bangkok, New Delhi. We are […]